The Jerusalem Family Court accepted the request of Sha'arei Tzedek hospital to perform a life-saving procedure on a 14-month-old baby, overriding the request of the parents to take the baby off the respirator.

The baby suffers from a muscle disease she has had since birth. Her older sister died from the same malady when she was only 6 years old. The parents, who are Torah-observant, consulted Rabbis Kanievsky and Basri, respectively, who deal with just such matters from a halakhic (Jewish law) perspective, and then asked for the baby to be taken off the respirator.

The hospital wanted to perform an immediate tracheostomy, saying that the patient was not in life-threatening condition and could be expected to live for years after the procedure. The court ruled that the parents were actually requesting an act of euthanasia , which is forbidden by law.